Rhubarb and strawberry crumble

Rhubarb and strawberry crumble is probably the simplest dessert on earth. In its simplicity there is the love and comfort that only homemade food can give us. It’s a great way to welcome the British summer and you can use any fruit you like.

Despite a crumble is a very typical dessert in the UK, it didn’t used to be a thing in Italy when I was a kid. I still remember when I have eaten it for the first time as an adult. I was twenty years old studying in Paris and a student association was selling crumble at uni to collect money. For the good cause of a cheap meal (and yeah I guess helping other students), I tucked-in.

The concept couldn’t be simpler: a layer of stewed seasonal fruit and a topping of butter and flour. Genius!

Call it coincidence, call it ignorance, since then I thought this magic dessert was a French invention. Only years later when I moved to the UK, I discovered a good crumble is the pride of the country.

This pudding is so iconic that it was voted Britain’s most loved dessert in 2018.

Apparently, crumbles became popular during World War II. The clever crumbling topping was a way to overcome the post-war rationing of pastry ingredients. In other words, a crumble was first invented as a cheap alternative to the classic fruit pies.

However, while I searched everywhere how crumble was invented, I found an alternative origin story and I couldn’t wait to share it with you. I don’t know if it’s true, so be aware this might be fake news, but still worth a reading as it’s quite a wholesome and cute tale.

According to this source, crumble was first invented in the Sommerset village of Much Wittering. The village held an annual competition for the best apple pie. One year, a cheeky goat called Sid run into the fair and stumbled against the table displaying all the competing apple pies.

What a mess! All the pies were destroyed and all that was left were lots of…crumbles!
A brave judge still decided to give these crumbles a chance, after all the villagers put so much effort in making the pies.

Shockingly these crumbles tasted so good, even better than the traditional pies.
Word got around the village and soon all over the world: the iconic humble apple crumbles was invented.

The village still celebrates the crumble invention on 31st September every year with a big fair.
Not sure if this is legit but if you are around at that time, we have a deal, let’s go together and find out ourselves!

My crumble is likely to be the simplest version you’ll ever find on the internet. We can say it’s the simple version of an already extremely simple dessert. I took out all the sugar as strawberries in this season are already extremely sweet and I cook all the ingredients in one go. No time to waste, we just want to eat a crumble and as soon as possible.

Serve it warm with a generous scoop of ice-cream or yoghurt (if you sadly have no ice-cream left in the fridge like me). Enjoy it outside on a balcony, garden, or near an open window in your flat. Take a mouthful and breathe the air of the first summer nights. Simple pleasures are what life is about.